Travel Insurance for the over 65s

TBH, just going to Northern France, I'd not bother with travel insurance at all. Make sure you've got EHIC cards with you.

You tried the meerkats, or other comparison engines? I'm surprised at nobody quoting for age 65+. 85+? Yes. But not 65+... Unless you've got pre-existing health conditions that are what're really chopping it off?

We actually want a multi-trip worldwide policy (sans North America). We used to insure with STA - because we have been on a number of their trips including volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, and also crewing on tall ships (incl. climbing loft).

But this time we just want to go to the Somme in France to see the WW1 graves of our grandfathers.

YET WE CAN'T GET INSURANCE BECAUSE WE ARE 67 AND 73 RESPECTIVELY.

Folks on TripAdvisor recommend World Nomads. But they too have an ageist policy of under 65s only.

Indeed World Nomads are partnered with Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Intrepid Explorers. So these groups are as ageist as World Nomads.

What are we supposed to do in our dotage - sit in a rest home and wait to die?

And with pension pots for the asking - maybe to be spent on world travel and adventures - we would have thought that insurances companies would be queuing up to take our cash. But no.

Has anyone here found an insurance company prepared to insure over 65s?

Thank you -

If you open up a Nationwide FlexPlus account, not only do you get 3% interest on your first £2500, but also free worldwide travel insurance up to age 75 and car breakdown insurance. It costs £10 a month (ie £120 a year) but your interest comes to £75 a year gross (or £60 net of basic rate tax) which you can deduct from that to work out the cost of the insurances that are included.

and free currency withdrawals (though not purchases!)- the buggers stopped that on my normal account and employment uncertainties stop me getting a card from a new bank that offers it

I was thinking of switching to this when my breakdown cover ran out, world wide insurance will probably make it a certainly (I'll have to check up on my medical excesses)

tim

Several companies specialise in covering the elderly without too many difficulties. Try one of the on-line comparison engines and you will find several. The guide to insurance for the over 65s on this page may also be useful:

Personally I wouldn't consider Saga Insurance, based on several bad experiences with their car insurance a few years ago. One one trip we were forced to call in to their offices in Folkestone on our way to the channel to collect our "green card" [continental cover extension document] after they failed several times to post it to us despite repeated requests.

In the past we've used Staysure, but currently we have a travel policy with Avanti. The admin seems competent for both of them, but of course you don't generally know if they are any good until you have to claim, and fortunately we haven't had to make a claim on our travel insurance for many years.

That must have been a VERY long time ago, because green cards haven't been needed in the vast majority of continental Europe for decades.

I looked at the NW FlexPlus option last year when I was shopping around for travel insurance. Looked a good deal on the face of it, but then did some googling on their insurance and found a lot of negative posts by people who have tried to claim from it.

They may have improved, but do at least do some research on it.

But, as with all "free" goodies which come with bank accounts, there are lots of exclusions. In particular, any pre-existing medical conditions are excluded. Depending on what they are, it may not be possible to cover them at all - or you may be able to pay to top up your "free" insurance to get them covered.

If you're buying a complete policy from anyone, have a look at SAGA. Probably not relevant in your case, but most companies limit cancellation cover to £5k per person - which may not be sufficient for some long haul holidays - whereas SAGA's limit is £10k.

Personally, not getting cover for my pre-existing conditions doesn't bother me. The chances of them giving me grief whilst I am away is negligible, and if they should cause me to cancel I can afford to take not getting a refund on the chin.

This is oh so much better that what most companies do, which is decline to insure me at all. Meaning that at I can't get insurance for e.g being in an RTA (or mugged) whilst in the US - something which, is far more likely to be a problem (even if still unlikely).

And they have a helpline at which I can discuss my conditions to help you decide.

Never a problem for me.

I rarely book more that a couple of hundred pounds of non-cancellable/changeable items before I leave

tim

But can you afford to get yourself home in an air ambulance if they *do* give you grief?

I had no problems with annual worldwide until over 73 when I developed a slight condition that most dislike. Try Insure and Go. Things like hypertension are OK if no more than two tablets to control it. Three and there's a supplement. Some other conditions you can ask them to exclude. David

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I have world wide multi trip cover (30 day single trip limit) for myself and my wife (both 77) with my bank account. The cost of the account plus the cost of covering all my pre-existing medical conditions is less than I was quoted for a single trip to Europe.

I believe the 30 day limit can be extended for a relatively nominal sum but haven't tried, because I haven't needed to so far.

They aren't the sort of condition where that would be required

tim

That's why I put "green card" in quotes - it wasn't that long ago, but many motor insurers (Saga included) only include the minimum mandatory Europe-wide cover in their policies approximating to 3rd party insurance, and only provide an extension to roughly comprehensive if you pay extra. They then provide a certificate to confirm that you have the appropriate cover. It was that which they repeatedly failed to provide. In my experience, many insurers (can't remember whether Saga was one) provided a green card even after it was no longer required. Anyhow it was some years ago, and their administration may have got less inefficient since, but one bitten twice shy.